Master of Art Degree in English
The department offers a program leading to the Master of Arts degree in English. While many students enter the master of arts degree program to prepare themselves for teaching composition or literature in schools or on the post secondary level, others enroll for the degree to acquire background and skills for careers in writing, publishing, and a variety of business fields. Courses that address such professional interests are built on a firm foundation of core studies in literature and criticism and are complemented by the traditional skills that the program also develops: analytical abilities; techniques of investigation and organization and presentation of ideas. For some students, the Master of Arts degree in English is essential preparation for the doctorate degree. It is the highly recommended background for some professions such as law. But, above all, the degree supports professional aspirations by enriching the student's personal life through its varied knowledge of cultural history, and the modes of vision that literature has taught men and women to use and enjoy.
In addition to the general master's degree program, the department offers a concentration in Black Literature. Graduate level courses are also available in television and theater arts and communication studies.
Admission Requirements
A student applying to the master's degree program in English must write a paper on literary analysis during a 90 minute period scheduled at Chicago State University. The date of the scheduled writing period can be obtained from the Department of English (773) 995-2189. Graduate applicants are not required to complete the English Qualifying exam.
Depending on the assessment of the paper, the applicant could be: (1) denied admission; (2) conditionally admitted; (3) fully admitted. Students conditionally admitted will be assigned to Eng 228 and to other courses deemed necessary. Conditionally admitted students must successfully complete Eng 228 for full admission into the master's degree program. Fully admitted students will be assigned to Eng 427.
General Requirements
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Fulfillment of the general requirements for admission to the graduate program.
- Completion of twenty-four semester hours of undergraduate work in English and the baccalaureate degree, with an acceptable grade point average.
- A minimum of half of the courses applied to the satisfaction of Master degree requirements must be at the 400-level, including one seminar in American literature and one seminar in British literature.
Option #1
Completion of at least thirty credit hours of graduate level course work, exclusive of teaching methods courses, with grades averaging B (3.0) or above.
Successful completion of a comprehensive examination in English or American literature or linguistics after the student has accumulated at least twenty-one hours in the master's degree program. Students will be given only two opportunities to successfully complete the comprehensive exam.
Option #2
Completion of at least thirty-three credit hours of graduate level course work (including the thesis), exclusive of teaching methods courses, with grades averaging B (3.0) or above. (See graduate advisor for MA thesis guidelines.)
Specific Requirements
Completion of thirty semester hours of graduate work in English selected with the approval of the graduate advisor. Teaching methods courses are excluded.
Completion of the following courses, or their equivalents, is required on either the undergraduate or graduate level: Eng 311 or 411; 331 or 428; 336 or 436; 415 and 427; plus three courses in some combination of British and American literature.
COURSE OFFERINGS
Eng 306 - Adolescent Literature
Eng 314 - Victorian Literature
Eng 316 - World Masterpieces
Eng 321 - Black Women Writers
Eng 322 - Black American Poetry
Eng 323 - Wright, Ellison, and Baldwin
Eng 324 - Gwendolyn Brooks Seminar
Eng 326 - Studies on Romantic Literature
Eng 329 - Studies in the Novel
Eng 331 - Literary Criticism
Eng 332 - Black American Fiction
Eng 334 - Image of Blacks in Amer. Prose Fic
Eng 338 - Language
Eng 339 - Current English Usage
Eng 341 - American Literature Since 1918
Eng 342 - English Literature Since 1918
Eng 343 - Contemporary World Literature
Eng 346 - American Literature, 1865-1918
Eng 347 - Teaching Composition
Eng 349 - The English Novel
Eng 355 - Modern World Drama
Eng 356 - The Experience of Film
Eng 357 - The English Renaissance
Eng 358 - English Lit of the 17th Century
Eng 359 - Literature of the 18th Century
Eng 360 - Teaching Literature
Eng 361 - Language and Culture
Eng 366 - Teaching English as a Sec Lang
Eng 367 - Special Topics in English
Eng 368 - Workshop in English
Eng 370 - The Amer Ethnic Exp in Lit
Eng 371 - Immigrant Literature
Eng 373 - Careers in Publishing
Eng 374 - Book Publishing
Eng 377 - Teach Writ in a Multicultural Set
Eng 380 - Seminar in Non-fiction
Eng 381 - Seminar in Fiction
Eng 383 - Seminar in Poetry
Eng 390 - Women’s Voices
Eng 395 - Internship in Writing
Eng 411 - Studies in Shakespeare
Eng 415 - Studies in Chaucer
Eng 427 - Meth & Mat of Literary Research
Eng 428 - History of Literary Criticism
Eng 435 - History of English
Eng 436 - Descriptive Grammar
Eng 441 - Advanced Studies in English Lit
Eng 442 - Advanced Studies in American Lit
Eng 443 - Advanced Studies in Black Lit
Eng 447 - Seminar in Black Literature
Eng 449 - The Politics of Language
Eng 451 - Independent Study in English
Eng 452 - Seminar in English Literature
Eng 453 - Seminar in American Literature
Eng 454 - Seminar in the English Language
Eng 455 - Seminar in the Teaching of Comp
Eng 456 - Seminar in Publishing-Writing
Optional:
Eng 498 - Master's Thesis
Program Objectives
For successful completion of the graduate program in English, students must:
1. be able to write coherent, well-organized exposition in several rhetorical modes using edited American English competently.
2. understand and be able to use effectively a variety of rhetorical forms and strategies of informative writing and write for a variety of audiences.
3. be familiar with the literature and major developments and writers of Great Britain and America.
4. be familiar with a significant body of literature by American writers of color.
5. be able to analyze works of literature, understand a variety of critical approaches, and demonstrate an awareness of the characteristic elements and techniques of the various genres.
6. understand basic elements of language and of language development, history, dialects, and language acquisition.
7. be able to think critically about issues and articulate varying points of view.
8. be adept in solving problems involved in research and communication.
9. be competent in operating word processing programs.
10. be familiar with professional journals in the discipline.
11. be familiar with professional organizations and become a participating member of at least one.
12. be willing and able to identify their own strengths and weaknesses and outline a plan of self-improvement.
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